Bast vs. Stone II - Second Impact

[BlackAkuma]

Breathe. Just breathe. That was the first step, which was far easier said than done for a woman like Stone. This hold would’ve been effective on Bast if she was taking it from a woman half her size, but with an opponent like this, someone with such an insane well of strength, it was downright deadly. It felt like a steel noose clamping around Bast’s neck, this unflinching, unyielding mass of muscle that only clamped down tighter with each passing second, giving nothing and taking everything.

But there was a way out. There had to be.

The first step was getting some measure of control. Bast bent backward as far as she could go, trying to alleviate at least some of the pressure. It wouldn’t be enough to get her free, but it was enough to keep the stars out of her eyes for the time being, allowing her to stay in the waking world. She sucked in some air, as much as she could, with short, shallow breaths, knowing she would need everything she could get for what came next.

Bast spread her legs and looked up - no, the ropes were too far away, and while there was a chance she could get to them, she wasn’t at all confident about doing so without wasting far too much energy. Instead, she decided her best shot was making her stand, here and now.

She stretched out, grabbed Stone’s arm with her free hand, then jerked up all at once, contracting her body and shoot her knee up at the same time in an attempt to her foe in the face with her knee.

[thesteedman]

Stone kept the pressure up, tightening her arm, tightening that deadly vice upon Bast as the two colossal women continued their on-going struggle. Even with the pace slowing down as it had, the crowd were still electrified, enthralled by the vision of the massive Stone slowly wringing the life out of Bast. It was looking increasingly grim for the woman who was subjected to the gruelling submission hold, but the whole time, she had remained active, showing the referee and the crowd in unison that Bast was not done fighting.

Everyone needed to breath however, and it had been some time since Bast was able to draw in enough air to maintain this struggle. Especially as those large and muscular arms stretched her form, tightening around her neck and captured limb for a prolonged bout of pressure. Bast was not done though, and she had other plans. Stone was no doubt beginning to set into a false sense of security, which gave Bast a leverage she could use... that element of surprise. In a burst of octane energy, Bast planted her feet, before hoisting her form upwards in an impressive display of athleticism for a woman of her size and build. Though it no doubt brought further discomfort to her spine, being arched as she was, it did grant her a moment of air when Stone was caught off guard.

Naturally the woman tried to counter, adjusting her grip in an effort to return Bast to where she felt she belonged, but that would incidentally play right into Bast's hands... or rather one of her knees at this point. With a sickening impact, Bast managed to strike true, landing a vicious knee strike against the side of Stone's temple when she attempted to squeeze down upon her neck. This move would work to perfection, as Stone grimaced, the shock of the impact loosening her grip and sending her stumbling back... in turn finally releasing Bast from that terrible hold!

[BlackAkuma]

Bast’s counter was a bit of a gamble, and she realized that even as she attempted it. This sort of thing was far from her specialty - she couldn't remember the last time she’d been in such a dire, draining hold. While she’d had to fight out of submission holds before, they were typically the wheelhouse of smaller opponents, and it was a simple matter to muscle her way out or batter them down once she got a hand free and in position. With Stone, that was simply not an option - her only chance was for something big, brutal, and impactful. Her knee ticked all of those boxes, fortunately.

She let out a loud, bellowing gasp as Stone released her, sucking in all the air denied her for the past few moments and flopping to the side. Her hand approached to massage her neck, and a flurry of coughs followed. At least she would be feeling that choke for the next week, and she counted herself lucky that nothing seemed broken. She felt a great swell of pity for the next person who had to suffer such a move from Stone - a more petite woman would’ve either had to tap or been rendered unconscious by now.

But she was still awake. She could still fight. This war wasn’t even halfway over.

Bast grunted and pushed back up, using the turnbuckle for support as Stone stumbled back. With arms raised, she moved in to face her rival again, but this time she wasn’t in the mood to test her power with the titaness. Instead, she decided to go with what she did best: strikes. She came in low with a swift kick aimed at Stone’s knee, with another one following close after, as she tried to chop this tree down at the base.

[thesteedman]

Stone shook away the cobwebs as quickly as she could when she witnessed the fellow giant managing to rally before her. It was a testament to the wrestler Bast is, watching as the beast of a woman advanced upon her, showing little signs of hurt despite being near folded in half and choked. For certain, signs of fatigue were visible, as a sheen of sweat glistened from the powerful and statuesque form of the fierce fighter and wrestler, whilst her hair had become more unkempt from the gruelling struggle. Yet whatever exhaustion and pain Bast may have suffered, she was concealing it well behind a stoic and expression of determination.

Not one to back down, Stone looked to engage with Bast, eager to continue where she left off. Though it seemed Bast had another game in mind, realising those tests of strength on a direct level against Stone was not the best of strategies. Stone was not quite ready for what came next, as Bast brought the fight to her own level, managing to send a stiff kick that clashed hard against the advancing leg of Stone, connecting right at the side of her knee. Her leg went inwards awkward, making the normally expressionless features of Stone sour into a grimace. The giant of a woman looked ready to correct herself, but Bast was not done, sending a second strike just as hard, managing to connect once more.

This brought Stone down to one knee in a rough manner, setting the larger woman off balance. Stone was a dangerous striker herself, more or less simply due to her own size and power rather than any real technique. She looked to answer in kind against Bast in an effort to defend herself, but it was clear this game was more suited to Bast! Stone's haymaker was a little predictable, given her current positioning, though if Bast was not careful, she was all too aware a strike from this gargantuan mountain of muscle could still put her down if she did not treat her with respect!

[BlackAkuma]

Bast could not overpower Stone.

It was a simple realization and an obvious one, but most wouldn’t appreciate the gravity of her admitting it, even inwardly. It was so rare for her to find an opponent she couldn't bulldoze through, even on the rare occasions where she fought someone with more weight to throw around. She was accustomed to having that advantage to fall back on, the ability to demolish a foe with overwhelming offense, that it was hard to conceive of a world where it wasn’t her first, best, and only tool.

But that was the world she was in now, and she was going to have to adapt. Stone wasn’t the dullard that Stick seemed to see her as, but she still lacked refinement, didn’t seem beholden to a particular style. It was a slim advantage when she had power and reach on her side, but Bast had seen close fights won on such things before.

That was her thought process as she went to work on Stone’s leg, attacking the mountain at its base instead of going for the peak. Her doubled kicks did a decent job at taking some of the pep out of her step, but the woman was still coming, blazing a hard trail towards her. She lashed out, coming with a heavy punch, a haymaker that would’ve leveled most wrestlers straight out if they didn’t dodge.

Bast had other options. As the blow came in, she moved towards it instead of away, letting it sail past her head. She reached up, grabbed Stone by the arm, twisted around, and tried to pull her over and throw her to the mat, trying to use her momentum against her with a classic judo throw.

[thesteedman]

Stick's face soured... she saw it coming long before Stone had. If the giant had bothered to take heed to her words and her signals this would not have happened! Yet... happen it did. The crowd could not help but rise to their feet, gasping as photo flashes flittered throughout the crowd. Stone's massive strike dashed against naught but the air it sailed through, as Bast deftly was able to position herself below the strike. The forward momentum, combined with the build work Bast had put in against Stone's legs all worked in her favour. No doubt it still took great effort to do it, but with all the stars aligning as they did, Bast was able to strain her form, wrap her arms around Stone's shoulder and use her body as a weapon.

Stone was flipped... actually flipped. It was an impressive display to see a woman so large and bulked up with muscle flip over Bast's shoulder, before the ring near bounced from the massive impact. The very foundation of the ring was tested, as loud creaks of steel from the supporting beams sang out in complaint. Stone near bounced, landing awkwardly on her shoulder before the rest of her body followed and near crumpled her up. She was left to roll to the side, as the crowd jumped up and began to cheer loudly at the impressive display! Stick hated it... simply because it was all by design. She mentioned the stars, yet that was not to say it had been luck, it was Bast who manipulated them into position. She did not pull this off by chance; Bast had worked for it and pulled off the entire series of strikes and her flip to perfection.

Now she was reaping the benefits... but given the torture Bast had been put through, she was spending that precious benefit on recovering from her own ailments. She had the time. Stone was looking shaken. No doubt it hurt her landing like that, but more than that... Stone had never been flipped so easily. She began to roll onto all fours and slowly begin to pick herself up. Stick shook her head... this could have been avoided... though part of her was curious to see how Stone would cope. It was her first time fighting solo... In truth Stone did not like to fight at all, yet for some reason she wanted this match, and she wanted to fight Bast.
"Get up! You're far from done and you know it!" Stick would call out. It was a loose bit of encouragement for her wrestler, or what passed for it by Stick's standards as she shook her head and folded her arms.

[BlackAkuma]

If the audience’s reaction was anything to go by, they were suitable impressed by Bash’s feat of strength, and Cersei wouldn’t fault them for that. While she never forgot how strong her sister truly was, she was still taken aback by feats such as this, watching as she sent a living, breathing giant flying. Not without a significant amount of effort, however - as soon as Stone was released, Bast fell to a knee, panting hard, the exertion taking its toll. The match wasn’t even that long, but a thick sheen of sweat had already built up over her body, a mute testament to the rigors she’d gone through.

It might’ve seemed like a young battle, but Bast felt like she’d been wrestling with Stone for ages. Every move seemed to take her full measure. Every attack pushed her to the brink. While she was on top for the moment, it was clear that her opponent had more energy to spare, if only because she was so much more significant. This match would sway in her favor sooner or later. Likely sooner.

She needed to start bringing this to an end. She needed something decisive.

Bast gritted her teeth, pushed past the pain, and moved over as Stone rose, knowing she needed to beat this woman to the proverbial punch. She reached over, grabbed her by the head, pulled her up, and immediately began to unload - two hard, stiff elbows to the face, drilling her clean on the center, driving hard to knock the sense out of her. Even a woman as brutal as this would fall with enough hard strikes to the head.

[thesteedman]

Stone decided very swiftly after the first two strikes clashed against her head that she really did not like getting hit. Bast was coming at her hard, looking to keep pressing her advantage, and as such she began to fight to her own strengths, one of which was her striking game. The first elbow struck true, and then the second, forcing Stone's head to reel back from the intensity of each strike. She began to defend herself by the third, reaching up with a massive arm to half cover her face. Even still, Bast was still landing powerful strikes, her expertise in this field showing as her elbow still caught Stone despite her guard.

It was time to try and put a stop to this, as such, Stone made a swing of her own with her free arm, managing to catch Bast at the side of her temple. For certain, Bast was the better of the two strikers, holding technique with each hit, but for all her faults in this style of fighting, Stone more than made up for it with raw power even if she was lacking finesse and technique. For every three strikes Bast inflicted upon the colossal form of Stone, she met back with one of her own, and it appeared to keep her in the game as Bast could not quite tank such a singular strike. With momentum slowly shifting, Stone was still able to rise up to her feet. By now Bast had inflicted a cut above her eyebrow with such a series of hits, but Stone was quick to answer back, throwing a quick strike for her at least against Bast's temple.

Wanting to end this style of fighting, Stone followed up her strike with a hard shove against Bast's shoulders, looking to put a good few steps of distance between them, before like a juggernaut she stampeded forwards, looking to run over Bast with a big shoulder barge, trying to bring the fellow heavyweight down by sheer force of weight and strength!

[BlackAkuma]

Bast was not stronger than Stone. While she wasn’t significantly weaker, there was a real, noticeable gap between them, created by the size gap. It was a strange thing for her to come to terms with, so used to being the biggest one in any particular room that she walked into, but that was the reality of things - this woman’s power was undeniable, a true juggernaut, and any frontal assault that relied on overpowering her was doomed to fail.

But strikes? Speed? Technique? Bast excelled in these areas, and she knew her greatest chance for victory lay with them. If she couldn't beat her opponent with the quality of her moves, she would take her over with the quantity of them, and that was the ethos behind her current assault, battering her with vicious elbows, drilling them into her face with ruthless abandon.

This would only get her so far, however. It was only a matter of time until Stone retaliated, and she did so in her usual fashion, coming out with powerful clubbing blows that made up for every two that Bast landed. She returned fire and suffered more in return, as her opponent continued her inexorable rise, and a full on exchange broke out.

Something had to give, however, and it happened when Stone pushed her away, then rammed her with her shoulder, using her bodyweight to knock the Panthress back. Instead of fighting that, however, Bast rolled with the momentum and hit the ropes, using it to propel herself forward at high speed. She waited until she was close enough, then leaped up with her leg raised, trying to hit the mammoth woman with a flying knee strike to the chest.

[thesteedman]

Stick shook her head, watching Stone and her reckless abandon. For certain, Stone looked unstoppable to the naked eye. Everything Bast was throwing at her, the heavyweight giant made it look like it was nothing. She constantly rose back up to her station and always replied with as good as she got. Stick knew Stone better than anyone however. There was limitations... she was not a comic character. Stick could see the tells because she knew her so well. Those strikes, those body blows and the moves inflicted upon the giant of a woman... they were all hurting her.

These were the things she often managed to avoid with her help, as Stick could read a match well and download information from Stone's opposition. Stone wasn't listening today though, making her wince in displeasure as she folded her arms. The exchange ended with Stone getting an edge, but when she rose... she was slower, and her movements were more cumbersome than before. It was subtle but it was there. As small as Bast was in comparison to her giant, she was relentless. Nothing seemed to keep her down! Stone had crushed her, slammed her, bent her and Bast was still going strong, still thinking of ways to manage, always working and fighting. Stick began to wonder if there was a limit to what Bast could do.

One of them had to give out eventually. As Bast hit the ropes and leapt with her massive figure, Stone was ready for her, catching her around the body as the knee slammed into her. For certain the impact hit her hard, as Stone stepped back a few paces before managing to stabilise herself. It was then Stone hoisted Bast upwards, before jumping herself and pressing downwards. The crowd all stood up to their feet at the sheer display of strength as Stone inflicted a massive spine buster upon Bast, planting her right in the centre of the ring with devastating impact. Stick felt the ring being tested, the whole thing shaking as she near lost her feet! Never mind which of the women would stop first... at this rate the ring was not going to survive!